Field of the Invention. The invention relates generally to instruments utilized in orthopedic surgery, and more particularly to instruments used in surgery for the passage of surgical cable around bones and methods thereof.
Surgical cable is often used by surgeons as a cerclage to support and repair fractured bones. Once fully looped around the bone, tensioned, and fixed using a crimp or other clamping the device, the cable cerclage works very effectively for bone repair. It is of course always a goal to minimize tissue damage during a surgical procedure and therefore minimize incision size which can make looping of surgical cable around a bone through a small incision very tedious for the surgeon.
Cable passers in the prior art are often difficult to insert and remove from an incision and typically comprise a shape that passes a surgical cable only partially around a bone. The free end of the cable can be difficult to pass through the soft tissues and difficult to locate within an incision. What is needed is a cable passer which has a small insertion and removal profile and provides a completely enclosed surgical cable travel path both in and out of an incision free from binding of soft tissue.
This mating relationship prevents interposing soft tissue between the tip, engages the opposing tips, and facilitates the smooth passage of surgical cable through the cannulas 53 of each cable guide tube and across male end 35 and female end 37. For this reason, it is preferred that surgical cable is fed through the corresponding guide tube having the male end 35 first since the flared taper 41 will act like a funnel to guide a surgical cable into a far port 58 without binding. The cable however may be fed in an opposing direction if needed with generally acceptable results. Also, first cable guide tube 12 and second cable guide tube 14 may be paired with either first handle extension 16 and second handle extension 18 during assembly.